4 OPINION Page 4 Wednesday, March 7, 1984 The Michigan Daily You just cE By Eric Mattson You can see it rising unattractively from the frozen Michigan plain. Huge. Ugly. Sterile. The Detroit News described it as a "run-down hospital," and indeed its appearance more closely resembles an institution for juvenile delinquents than a home to the future capitalists of America. Imagine my chagrin as an incoming freshman to learn that I had been relegated to "the animal house of dor- ms." What's more, I was forced into one of the Quad's roomy converted triples. Picture a suburban housewife worried about her little boy being sent off like a head of cattle to the dorm with the worst reputation on campus. Not a pleasant thought. IT'S DIFFICULT to explain, then, why I'll be living in South Quad again next year. The food, at best, is mediocre. The Quad is often trashed af- ter weekend bashes and frequently loud. I get strange looks from people (most of whom live on the Hill) when I tell them I live in South Quad. A rather abrasive acquaintance of mine included "people who live in South Quad" on his "people I hate" list. And cockroaches. Some people insist that quaddies use these mini-monsters just to get around the "no pets", rule. Personally, I've never seen one of the little buggers. The legendary wild parties of South Quad aren't really all that wild. You might be in trouble if you have five 8 a.m. classes a week, but I would have trouble with five 8 a.m. classes a week even if I lived in a monastery. The only reason I am staying in the quad next year, I guess, is the people. South Quad may not have the osten- tatious luxury of Martha Cook or the stereotypically collegiate look of West Quad, but the people there are every bit as pleasant - if not more pleasant - than the people at other dorms. We don't have just the Superpreps of Mojo or the '60s-type radicals of East Quad, we have a pretty diverse group of people. WE HAVE born-again Christians, New York Jews, blacks, whites, pinkos, drug addicts, jocks (of course) and - believe it or not - intellectuals. And all that's just on one hall. South Quad also has the good fortune to have a multitude of people who aren't there by choice. When I arrived, at my luxurious converted triple with a view, I wasn't the only one who had to put up with crowded conditions and unreasonable roommates. We were all in it together. And I guess I wasn't the only one who didn't mind the quad, sin- ce 480 other brave souls signed up to live there again next year. I wouldn't live in a converted triple again for a guaranteed 4.0 grade point average, yet it was something of a worthwhile lesson in human relations. The Quad also makes you appreciate! simple things when you go home, like your very own bathroom and home- cooked meals. But this can be said about any dorm. Obviously, the stereotypes created in't bear to say goodbye concerning South Quad are as ridiculous as those that I just made regarding other dorms. Martha Cook isn't filled with preppie bitches (even South Quad has a few of them). East Quad isn't completely filled with radicals. West Quad isn't the epitome of college life. But neither is South Quad the epitome of wild parties, fast women (unfortunately), and Bo's boys. One reason South Quad has a poor reputation is that some of the people who work there are so defensive about the stereotypes. For example, when The Detroit News published a somewhat unfavorable feature on South Quad and the University last Septem- ber, people in the Quad went wild by ' sending petitions to the paper and ' demanding an apology. I thought a lot of what the article said was true. Sure, some of it was played up just to make it a more interesting story, but even the Daily does this occasionally. The truth is, South Quaddies have nothing to be ashamed of. It's not our fault that whoever built the monstrosity ' had no taste whatsoever. Or maybe he (or she) was just trying to get even with an enemy at the University. I don't care what anyone says about the UGLi and the LSA building, South Quad is the ugliest building on campus - if not thet ugliest in the state of Michigan. But strange as it may sound, it's a great place to start your college career. Mattson is a Daily staff reporter. Daily Photo by SCOTT ZOLTON Despite its friendly residents and cute little cockroaches, South Quad is still the dorm you love to hate. Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan 420 Maynard St. Vol. XCIV-No. 123 Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board LaBan WIA.EL.O, CAN IT, MONDALE! WHAT'S WRONG? JSTHERE A PROBLEM? YOU LOT. AYOU KNJOW WfA TAT NEW HAMPSHIREWAS JUST A MINOR 5ETgAK! THERES STILL LOTS OF PRIMARIES- THE SOUTH, 5UPER-TUEDAY A yea All ~' Keep the faith ) And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men . . But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret; and your father who sees in secret will reward you (Matthew 6:5) THE BIBLICAL teachings of Jesus hold up prayer as a completely personal communication between an individual and the Lord unmediated by the voices or actions of other men. And indeed, prayer in its most basic sense is just that - a reflective com- munication that serves to evaluate, guide, and calm ones life. Prayer is not an act, nor something which can be taught. Jesus taught that prayer cannot be merely recitation. Men who heap up empty phrases "think that they will be heard for their many words" but the words are not heard unless spoken from the heart. Prayer is not two palms pressed together with head bowed. It is a way of life, a way of thinking, and a reflec- tion of faith. Whether faith be inspired by the Judeo-Christian God, Buddha, a tribal deity, or an individual reflection upon humanity, it is the aspect of one's life that is the most personal and deeply felt. Prayer, in being so individual in its inspiration and manifestation, is trivialized by any imposition of secular regulation. The government's establishment of religion in the nation's schools would relegate prayer to a mere act that takes place once a day and at a specific time. And if prayers are dictated, they constrict a child's ability to think independently and thus hinder the establishment of any meaningful faith. The Bible tells of God's attempt to establish a more enduring relationship with the house of Israel, and his place- ment of faith within each individual not in the hands of a few: And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor, and each his brother, seying, 'Know the Lord,' forthey shall all know me (Jeremiah 31:34) Whatever one's personal god may be, it cannot be imposed upon any other except under a false faith. The government cannot provide an individual with a religious basis. What the government can do is trivialize all religion, prayer, and faith in a false at- tempt to more firmly establish the priority of one religion. WI E aUDDIE.S... PALS.. WE'RE WITH HARtT NOW. \ON /16L I'M THlE FRONTRUNtNER! EVER~YONJ~E ENDOMED ME! I'VE GQT TH4E MotlEY! I'VE GOT THE CA$PAIGN! ( S1 4, t Q ' fE 1460- DAILY LETTERS TO THE DAILY: Daily needs economics 201 To the Daily: Really now, ladies and gen- tlemen of the Daily, must we support every liberal cause, however mindless it may be? It would be nice to have a college paper that at least approached the standards of credibility. It would also be nice if one of your staff took a course in economics so the paper would have the means to balance a little clear- headedness against the silly ideas espoused in your editorial on the deficit (Daily, March 3). Of course the Daily sides with the tax and spending crowd. Yes, Congress is taking those "necessary" tax-raising steps in order to close the deficit. Oh, Robert Dole and Dan Rostenkowski tried really hard to find places to cut domestic spen- ding (they really did!). But, well, Journal puts it, cuts to the heart of the government's financial mess. In referring to the dilem- ma of "government versus the healthy economy" (in which the deficit plays a key role), Mr. Mc- Cracken wrote: "The fundamen- tal problem is -the relentless ten- dency for government to pre- empt a growing proportion of the national income and output." (The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 28). Congress's problem isn't ac- cess to too little revenue, but ac- cess to too much revenue. The wild spending which led to the deficit now serves as a flimsy justification for wild taxing to close that deficit. And since the deficit is perceived as being an acceptable residual of gover- BLOOM COUNTY nment finance, Congress will continue to feel justified in spen- ding more than it takes in. The Daily speaks of certain ob- stacles - the laws - which prevent this vicious cycle from being broken. It does well to remember, however, that these laws were not handed down by Moses. Congress made the laws, Congress can repeal them. Right now, Congress is -too lazy to do anything. The Doles and the Rostenkowskis and the O'Neills are still bathing in the afterglow of tax hike bacchanalia. But come election time they could be in for a blast of very cold water, a blast from the tidal surge of another tax revolt. - Bruce Poindexter March 3 4 . Letters and columns represent the opinions of the individual author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the attitudes of the Daily. Unsigned editorials appearing on the left side of this page represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board. by Berke Breathed lL .=-1 .............._.._..